Blue
by kersion
Summary: ZekuSo AU /  Zexion had a thing with butterflies - butterflies and memory. It was the seven-coloured butterflies that first drew Sora to him, and the same seven-colours that pushed them apart.


So, yeah. This is a weird pairing, isn't it? Well, it was more spawned from a plot that all but beat me up in the desire to write it, and it turned into this... thing. And Zexion seemed to fit the part... Well, rather, I just felt like writing a ZekuSo. I hope it's alright :)

Actually, this is part of my friend's birthday present. I shouldn't be posting this. I hope she doesn't see it... Haha.

* * *

Sora was lost.

"Oh, what the _hell_."

Even better, Sora was lost in what seemed like the largest forest in the city, and he was convinced the whole place hated him, if the amount of branches hitting him in the face meant anything.

He sighed, sitting down on a nearby rock. The watch on his wrist blinked up at him, informing him that it was 3:51pm and that if he didn't find a way out of this goddamn forest soon, he wouldn't be able to make it home in time for dinner.

Boy, would his grandpa be _pissed_.

He clenched his fists and his expression turned sour. That old man could go to hell, he decided. The man only cared for himself, didn't once stop to think about how he might feel. "Go to school, Sora" this and "get your engineering degree, Sora" that and most of all "What are you doing, boy? Do you want your grandfather to die of hunger?"

He shuffled his feet around on the ground, searching out a decent sized rock. Then, imagining that it was his grandpa's head, he kicked it as hard as he could. It flew a good few meters and made a decent _crack_ noise against a tree.

He grinned, satisfied, and a butterfly flew in front of his face, snapping him out of his musings. He stared at it wondrously, the frown lines on his forehead beginning to smooth out.

It was blue. That, he decided, was weird in itself, as the only butterflies he'd ever seen around the city were orange and black. It didn't seem like any kind of blue he'd ever seen; if he didn't know any better, he'd think it was glowing.

The butterfly came to a rest on a tree branch and Sora shook his head, snapping out of his daze. He dragged his bag on to his lap and pulled out his sketchbook and started to draw. Naminé would've been able to sketch it far better than he could, but she'd given him a few pointers and, looking back at his little drawing, it wasn't too bad.

"Ah!"

It flapped its wings and started flying away slowly. Sora quickly packed his things up and, figuring that it was better than just sitting there, started to follow the butterfly.

After a while he came to the edge of the forest and he breathed deep in relief. He took a few moments to catch his breath before looking around.

"Wait a minute, if I remember right, this is…"

Before him was a house - no, mansion was far more accurate. It was huge, bigger than any house he'd ever seen, and completely white. The gardens that surrounded it were bursting with flowers, all tended to and very well loved, he could tell

It seemed that he'd managed to emerge just past the gates, and he was surrounded by some of the most beautiful flowers he'd ever seen. Much more alluring than that, though, was the whirlwind of butterflies before him, surrounding two people who were standing in what looked like a lover's embrace.

The sight was breathtaking, and Sora couldn't help but stand and stare, feeling like he'd stumbled across something that he wasn't supposed to see, but he couldn't look away. Slowly, the storm of butterflies subsided, dispersing out into the forest and lingering on around the house. He breathed in, letting go of the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

Standing there was a blue-haired man that he'd never seen before, and in his arms he held-

Sora stiffened. Standing there was his childhood friend, Kairi, whom he'd known ever since he could remember. They were the kind of friends that were always together, always joking, and everyone was convinced that they'd get married one day. Last week, she'd finally confessed to him, but…

She opened her eyes and they parted. She smiled and gave her thanks, then turned and walked away from him, closer to where Sora was standing. As she neared him, he mentally prepared himself for whatever may happen, for anything, but she just stared at him blankly. "You're in my way," she said.

At first Sora just blinked, unable to move. Then he nodded. "U-Uh, yeah. Sorry," he mumbled, stepping aside stiffly. She walked away, out through the gate and out of his vision.

The blue-haired man looked over at him. "Aah, what do we have here? A customer, is it? Good evening," he said, smiling. "My name is Zexion."

"A-Afternoon," he replied. "I'm Sora."

The man kept smiling. "Would you care for a cup of tea? Or maybe a hot chocolate?" he asked, gesturing to the house.

Sora looked up, slightly intimidated by how huge it was. He was thinking of refusing, thinking that it would probably be best, and that his grandfather was probably waiting for him, when a flair of angry defiance rose up in him. Screw the old man, he did what he wanted to. "A hot chocolate would be great," he said, smiling basic at him.

"Why don't you come inside, then?"

Sora nodded and followed him. Inside, the house had a surprisingly warm feeling for something so big. He wondered absently what the heating bill was like.

To his surprise they didn't go very far, just went inside and one room to the left into what looked like a sunroom, surrounded mainly by glass walls. It was nice, cosy, and he smiled, glad that he could still feel the sun across his face. There wasn't much else inside, just a table and some chairs and a few bird cages that held not birds but more of the blue butterflies. The cage doors were still open and they came and went as they pleased.

Sora sat and the man placed a mug of hot chocolate in front of him. He took it and started drinking it slowly, looking up as Zexion sat across from him. Then he paused, put the mug down. "This…" he started, a little unsure of himself. "Earlier I saw… _blue_ butterflies all around."

"Indeed," came the reply, a small _clink_ of his cup being set down following soon afterwards. "I'm the healer."

Sora blinked. "Huh?"

"Just now, you saw it, right? It's my profession," he said, propping his elbows up and leaning his chin in his hands. "There exist memories that are too much of a burden to carry. People come to me and I transform those sorrowful, useless things into butterflies."

He held his hand out and, seemingly all on its own, a butterfly came to rest on his fingers. "By releasing these shackles, one is able to walk a new path. Isn't it grand? Even those ugly, painful memories can transform into something like this."

⎡-_blue is the colour of sorrow_-⎦

Sora nodded, understanding. "So then, that girl before... What did she come for?"

"You know her?" Zexion asked, taking a sip of his drink.

He nodded again. "She's my childhood friend, but just now it was like she didn't know me at all..."

"Aah, so it was you." Zexion gave a small little laugh, covering it with his hand. "Maybe you were too painful for her to remember." He chuckled again, setting his cup down.

Sora frowned, looking away, suddenly put off by his laughing. "So, why are you telling me all this?" he said eventually, sounding more obstinate than he meant to.

"Who knows? Probably because… I just wanted to become your friend." Zexion smiled as the butterfly flew away and he nodded to himself as though he'd just confirmed something. "Aah, isn't that so?"

* * *

"Zexion!" came Sora's bubbly voice as he ran up through the gate, shutting it behind him.

Zexion looked over the pages of his book, a tiny smile dancing on his lips. "Sora?" he guessed, already knowing exactly who it is. "What brings you here?" he asked as the boy sat next to him on the porch, dropping his bag and everything else in his arms.

He sighed, frowning. "Entering a famous school - is something like that really important?" he asked quietly, playing with the cuffs of his shirt.

"Hey, what's this so suddenly?" Zexion asked.

Sora sighed again, his usually happy expression fading into something sad. "My grandfather wants me to follow in his footsteps, become a world-renown magician just like he claims to be. It's, ash, it's something of a family business." He frowned. "The business is important, but honestly, I couldn't care less."

"That, however, is just you thinking highly of yourself. Isn't that right?" Zexion replied, looking up at the sky.

Sora laughed. "It's just my ego."

Zexion reached over and ruffled his hair, much to Sora's distress. "A smile suits you best."

Sora smiled, just for him, but it didn't feel right and he dropped it quickly. "The truth is… You already know, don't you? Of course you do." There were a few tears threatening to fall and he was shaking. "Earlier, my grandfather died."

Zexion leaned over, holding one of his cheeks in his hand. "I thought you hated him?"

The brunet squeezed his eyes shut, leaning towards him. "But he loved me so much," he said quietly. "And now I don't know what to do. I know he loved me, in some twisted kind of way. He must have."

Zexion sighed, pulling him into a hug. "Indeed," he whispered, patting his hair. "Sora, if it's too painful… Shall I take those memories away?"

"If you take them away, will I forget everything about my grandfather?" He asked, looking up at his face.

"Yes," he replied, not meeting his eyes. Instead, he was staring up at the sky again. "Everything about the subject matter will, without exception, be erased.

Sora looked away. "Fine," he said. "It's fine. If that's the case, then I'm fine as I am." He smiled. "Because…"

Zexion was looking at him now, watching him carefully. "Pardon?"

"This pain is also a painful moment of my grandfather," he said quietly, wrapping his arms around Zexion's middle and hugging him close.

The blue-haired man smiled, lightly kissing the top of his head as Sora lay there. "Well then… Is there anything I can do for you?"

"You're warm and I can relax around you, so…" He yawned, shutting his eyes and smiling. "Stay by my side."

* * *

Zexion opened the door to his library, dropping his armful of books onto the table. The room was large, comfortable, one of the walls made completely of glass. "Let's see…" he wondered, pulling up his sleeves. "It'll soon be time for Sora to arrive," he said to himself, smiling.

He left the pile of books where they were and turned to leave. On his way out he passed by the window and caught a glimpse of brown hair, and he stopped, frowned.

Outside, just next to the gate, stood Sora and… a girl. She was blonde and looked almost doll-like, with perfect eyes and a perfect smile. He was smiling with her and they laughed, Sora holding a hand on her shoulder.

"…"

Unknowingly, Zexion had clenched his fists.

* * *

The door clicked open and Sora stepped inside. "Zexion?" he called out.

Zexion was sitting at a small table in the room directly in front of the entrance, reading yet another book. "Welcome," he said, smiling warmly.

"Actually," Sora started, taking off his scarf and bag and leaving them by the door. "Since his death, I've been living alone, so I might be placed in the care of distant relatives," he said, taking the other seat across from Zexion.

"Do you mean…" he set his book down. "That girl you were with earlier?"

"Oh!" Sora exclaimed, looking a little surprised. "So you've already met her?" He grinned, rubbing the back of his head in an almost embarrassed fashion. "Yeah. She's my cousin, and she's been very kind to me, but I… uh…"

"You love that girl, don't you," he said quietly, so quiet that Sora almost missed it.

He looked over at him strangely, a delicate red blush dancing across his face. "Aah…"

Zexion stood up with such a ferocity that his chair fell over backwards. He leaned across the table with one leg on the surface, the other stretching out behind him. He put his hand over Sora's eyes, pushing his head back and kissed him, hard, fast, desperately.

Sora gasped as he broke it off, eyelashes fluttering wildly against Zexion's palm. "Zexi…on…" he murmured as Zexion rested one hand on his cheek. "…Why? -Zexi… on."

The first butterfly came from the back of Zexion's hand. It was purple and yellow and orange and green and it flapped all around them. Then came another, and another, and another, until they were in the middle of a shower of butterflies, all multicolored, all beautiful.

Zexion looked down at him, his face a mixture of calmness, sadness, and maybe a little bit of anger. "I will take away your⎡most precious memories.⎦"

He paused, leaning over Sora, looking around at his surroundings. "How stunning, these seven-coloured butterflies," he muttered, a few of them landing on him. "This is… are you thinking of _her_?" He narrowed his eyes. "Despicable," he said, kneeling down and pulling him onto his lap. He sighed.

"You changed my blue world," he whispered, entwining his fingers with Sora's. "Don't go. It's too late for me to bear parting with you."

He kissed the top of Sora's head as his eyes opened. "Sora? Are you awake now?"

Sora blinked. He blinked again. "Waaaah!" He exclaimed, pushing himself from Zexion and jumping up. "S-Sorry!" he exclaimed again. "What was I…?"

"Sora?"

Sora blinked again. "Huh? How did you know my name?"

Zexion looked up at him, his eyes wide. Then his lips twitched and his voice let out a raspy sort of noise. "Ha… Ha, ha…" he started, then he couldn't stop. He laughed and laughed, bent over and clutching his sides, not out of humour or amusement, but because he'd only just realized how _stupid_ he was.

The brunet looked down at him, a little worried. "Well, um… What's wrong?" he asked, unsure whether he should help him or not. "Uh…"

Zexion smiled, looking up at him.

⎡-_the contents of a memory is something even a healer can't see_-⎦

"I am truly such a fool."

⎡-_memories, once turned into butterflies, can never be restored_-⎦

Zexion looked up at him with an expression of such extreme pain that Sora couldn't even begin to understand and he looked away, embarrassed. "'Pleased to meet you'…"

His face mellowed out into a sad sort of smile.

"Sora."

* * *

Sora jogged down through the forest, bag slung over his shoulder and his scarf wrapped securely around his neck. "Ah- that surprised me," he breathed, tugging his scarf closer.

_Why was I in such a place?_ he wondered, shivering as he tried to keep warm. For some reason he felt wrong, running away from that place, as though he still had some kind of unfinished business there.

He just shook his head and carried on.

* * *

"-What do you say, Sora? You've thought about it, right? Living with us, I mean."

Sora sighed, leaning back and twisting a piece of string around his fingers. "Oh, yeah, uh, about that…"

_Huh?_

"Don't be shy. Since you're still in high school and we live pretty far away, you'll have to transfer, but other than that…"

_Why was I trying to decline their offer?_

He slid down against the wall, leaning his head against the cool hardness of it, holding the phone loosely in his hands. It had been a few days since he'd woken up at that mansion and for some reason he couldn't stop thinking about it.

"…Okay. Thank you for the offer."

* * *

Sora was lost.

No - lost implied that he had absolutely no idea where he was. He smiled as distant outlines of the forest formed in his mind. "Wow… It's been a while…"

He looked up and through the gaps in the treetops, he could see the sky. It was cray and there were clouds and it looked like it was going to rain.

He shivered, pulling his jacket closer around him and was turning to leave when a butterfly flew in front of him. "Blue…? No, purple?" He wondered, following it with his eyes. "No, it's… rainbow colored?" He followed it through the trees and soon came to a clearing.

"Huh?" he blinked. "Wait a minute, if I remember right, this is…"

There was a rustling noise. "Good afternoon."

Sora turned to see a blue-haired man standing there.

"A customer, is it? How rare." The man smiled. "Would you care for a cup of tea?"

»Owari


End file.
